The Labyrinth

Cardcaptor Pandora
Episode VII
The Labyrinth

The day before the dance, and it would just figure that Pandora still wouldn't have a date. Now she sat in her bed, Rangi on her knee. He looked up and said, "Are you just going to sit around pouting for the next few days? It can't possibly be that bad!"

"That's not all I'm upset about, Rangi," she answered. "What do you think of Professor Everest?"

He bit his lip and suddenly fluttered around the rest of the room. "So maybe you could help decorate for the party or something, ay?"

"Rangi!"

The door opened and Rangi fell limp onto the bed as Padma Patil walked in. "Oh, sorry, Pandora. I was just looking for my sister. Have you seen her anywhere?"

"No..." Pandora answered uneasily. "I'll tell her you're looking for her if I do!"

"That's great, thanks!" she said with a smile, and left.

"That was close!" Rangi said, immediately coming back to life.

"Yes, you do rather enjoy cutting it close, don't you?"

"I didn't do it on purpose! Now are you going to sit here and sulk all day long, or are you going to go out there and find yourself a date?"

"It's a little late for that.... but I've nothing better to do. Maybe Harry actually has time for me today," she said, rolling her eyes and trying to ignore the lump in her throat. "And if all else fails I can talk to Draco."

Unfortunately for her, all else did fail. She found Harry holding Cho's hand and talking to her in one of the corridors, and nearly fell over. She hurried away quickly, wanting never to see Harry Potter again... though she knew she'd get over that phase quickly. After a little bit of searching, she found Draco outside, Pansy, Goyle, and Crabbe with him.

"Hello, Panda," Draco greeted dully as she neared them. "What do you want this time?"

"I just haven't talked to you in a few days, that's all."

"Did Potter ever come around?" This comment made the rest of the Slytherins snigger at her.

"N... No..."

"Poor little Panda! So you don't have a date at all?"

Pansy crossed her arms and leaned against the trunk of the tree they were all beneath. "I don't think Goyle here has a date, and I'm sure he'd love to go with you..."

Goyle exchanged an almost nervous glance with her, but then he grinned that grin that Pandora had grown to hate. "That's true, I don't. You would like to come with me, wouldn't you, Pandora?"

"Actually," Pandora quickly said, with a somewhat biting tone as she sidestepped him, "I would rather not, but thank you, anyway."

"Are you sure?" he asked, reaching out for one of her hands which she promptly withdrew, his hand catching nothing but air.

"Leave her alone, Goyle," Draco warned. "Panda, if you just want to go, you can! There's no rule that says you can only go to a party if you have a date. Who knows? Maybe you'll meet someone there."

"It'd be nice to at least walk in with someone though..." she said, her big amber eyes peering into his grey ones.

"Is that a hint...?" he asked with a sigh. "Fine. You can go there with me and Pansy, but once we're there, you're on your own. Got it?"

"Got it!"

"It's almost time to eat," Draco said, standing up straight and taking Pansy's hand. "We should be getting to the Great Hall. You know, Panda, since Harry has to eat with the Gryffindors, maybe you'll get a chance to corner him and talk to him then."

"Shut up, Dray!" she said, and followed the Slytherins into the Great Hall. There, she left the group to join Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. She was very glad to see that Cho was nowhere nearby.

"Hello, Pandora!" Harry greeted happily. "How have you been today?"

"Alright," she lied. "I've really... well..." She stopped her sentence and looked away, blushing.

"You've really what?"

"I've really... um... had a lot of homework lately!"

The other three blinked at her, then just sort of nodded. "Yeah, I know..." Harry said, not exactly knowing what to make of it. "I've noticed you've been hanging out with Lauren, Sydney, and Holly a lot lately..."

"Just like you've been hanging out with Cho a lot lately..." she shot back, a little more bitterly than she meant for it to be. Ron noticed it and covered his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Pandora had to admit she appreciated the effort.

"Um... right..." Harry said, again not knowing quite what to say or do. "So... do you have a costume for tomorrow night?"

"A costume?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "A costume. It is a masquerade, after all."

"Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about that!"

"Oh well," Ron said. "What's it matter to you? You don't even have a date, do you!"

She narrowed her eyes at him and stood up, saying, "And you think Malfoys are horrible people..." and turned to walk off, accidentally running directly into another member of the Weasley clan.

"Oh, sorry, Pandora!" George... or Fred... said.

"It's... it's alright..." Pandora looked around and was startled not to see the other nearby. "Where's your clone?"

"I don't know... I was just about to ask if any of you had seen Fred around."

"Oh, so you're George... Well, no, I can't say that I have."

None of the others had seen him either.

George sighed, looking very down for his usual attitude. "Well... if you see him... tell him to find me." And he walked off.

"Funny," Pandora commented as he walked away, "Padma was looking for Parvati earlier, too."

"I guess all the twins have lost their clones!" Ron joked.

"Yeah..." Pandora said with a faint smile, before a thought struck her. She stood up and looked across the room at the Slytherin table. Yes... she could see Pansy... Crabbe and Goyle....

...But where was Dray?

"Excuse me," she said quickly, and left the Gryffindor table, heading for the Slytherin. Pansy saw her as she neared and looked rather annoyed at having "little sister" tag along all the time. "Where did Dray go?" Pandora asked.

"He said he had to go do something," Pansy answered shortly.

"Yeah, well that's not very specific."

"He wasn't very specific either. He seemed to be looking at something, then said he needed to go, and left before we could get any more details out of him. So if you can do any better, than more power to you. You are his twin."

"Yes... I know..." she said absently, looking around the rest of the Great Hall for any sign of silvery blond hair. "How long has he been gone?"

"I guess about fifteen minutes."

Pandora turned and left without asking anything else. They certainly weren't being very helpful. She walked past the Gryffindor table and headed towards Gryffindor Tower, and was quite surprised to discover that Harry was following her. "Is something up?"

She stopped and looked at him for a moment before answering in a very timid voice, "Isn't something always up?"

He smiled and walked next to her as they continued. "It's a Card, then?"

"I don't know. All I know is that two sets of twins are missing their double, and now I've lost track of Dray... I don't know what kind of card would want to steal twins, though. That sounds quite odd to me. I'm going upstairs to ask Rangi if he knows anything."

"I'll wait in the Common Room, then I'll help you any way I can."

Pandora smiled at Harry and said, "What? You actually want me to find Draco?"

"It's not that I mind if he's missing, except I know you would miss him. Otherwise, if I ever saw him again it would be too soon."

They laughed as they went through the Fat Lady into Gryffindor Tower, then Pandora hurried up to her room.

"What? Forget the sweet rolls again?"

"Sorry, Rangi! I was preoccupied... I think there might be a Hogwarts Card around..."

"Oh?" Rangi said, becoming a bit more serious.

"Remember this morning when Padma came in looking for her sister? Now George is missing Fred. And... and Draco left the Great Hall during dinner and no one's seen him since..."

"Twins are being separated then?"

"Yes! But what card would care anything for separating twins?"

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to hurt anyone..." a voice said, a body materializing shortly after it. The image of a short little boy dressed in yellow robes appeared before them, a few trails of tears on his cheeks.

"You're the Twin Card!" Rangi said. "Except... except..."

"I'm missing my twin!" the little boy wailed. "I had to capture one of every set of twins here because the spirit of the Labyrinth Card took my twin and is holding him in the centre! Unfortunately, only very powerful people can enter there, and I am only a card... I have no incredibly magical powers... The Spirit of the Labyrinth, Jareth, said that if I could capture the twins and give them to him, then maybe I would get my twin back...."

"But you haven't yet, have you?" Pandora asked gently, feeling very sorry for the sweet little boy, whom she took to be a Hufflepuff by his yellow robes and his ever-loyal nature. "Can you take me to this Labyrinth? Perhaps I can get the twins back."

"Oh, I do hope so! I feel horrible. I never wanted to hurt anyone..." He broke off in another fit of tears before he was able to continue again. "May I go with you? It's the least I can do... for causing so much trouble... I can help you watch your back, maybe..."

"But I thought you said that you couldn't go in?"

"Not by myself, no. But as long as I am with you, I can!"

"In that case, it won't be necessary. Rangi and Harry can come with me, so..."

"No! Only the twins can go, no one else. And obviously you can't ask any of the other sets of twins to escort you because they can't know your secret. That would leave you with me."

"Why are there so many unwritten rules with these things!" Pandora whined. "Is that true, Rangi?"

"Yes, if he says it. Jareth makes his own rules for his own purposes..." He fluttered onto her shoulder and whispered, "I want you to be very careful. There's something very strange about this... I'm afraid you may be in a significant amount of danger... Don't worry about the Twin Card, though. He only wants his brother back. I've never known Jareth to be this demanding... I have no idea why he would want to destroy you..."

"Who said anything about destroying me?!"

"That's what usually happens to people who enter the Labyrinth. They get so lost that they never can return, and they die in there." Pandora opened her mouth to speak, but Rangi quickly continued, "I suppose he's wanting to dispose of you so that he can remain free from any sort of a master, but that is not like him at all! I suppose his Slytherin background is getting the best of him..."

"It's a Slytherin Card?" Pandora asked, looking a little ill.

"Yes, but Jareth's usually not very bad." Rangi sighed and looked back and forth from Pandora to the little Twin, until finally saying, "I suppose you had better get on with it... You will only have three days."

"What? Who said anything about a time limit!"

"You're just supposed to know these things, Pandora! Whenever there is something in the centre of the Labyrinth, you have three days to retrieve it before it becomes the eternal slave of the Spirit! And if you do not make it to the centre nor make it back out in the three days, you will die."
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Pandora and Twin stood outside the gate of the Labyrinth. It had been set up a little ways into the Forbidden Forest, which meant she could encounter anything once inside. Twin tried to reassure her, saying that the walls were very high and protected, so nothing could possibly get in, but Pandora had this amazingly irrational fear of trolls which Draco had been sure to nurture ever since they were two....

Harry had been very unwilling to let her go alone at first. She was very happy to see that he actually cared, but at the same time she didn't want him to worry... No. He could worry. He could worry the whole while he was at the dance with Cho. He could worry so much it could make him sick and he could throw up all over her.

Pandora opened the gate with ease, and Twin followed her closely. As the gate slammed shut behind her, she found herself faced with only two choices: left or right. Considering how one looked exactly like the other, she chose right, and walked on.

It felt like hours passed, and there hadn't been so much as even a bend. She looked down at Twin and asked, "Does it just go on forever? There's got to be some other way..."

"I was just about to suggest that... well... you know how it is with Hogwarts Cards! Nothing is ever as it seems!" he said, walking over to a wall and standing in front of it.

"Whatever do you...?" Pandora began, approaching the wall and going to place a hand on the stones... where they fell through air to reveal an opening into more passages. "Oh my! These passages have been here the whole time! You just can't tell from looking at them..." And the two stepped through.

They passed on and on, Pandora feeling like they would never find anything except for more passages. Eventually they came to a swamp where the walls of the Labyrinth reached so far into the sky that she could not see them, and where huge insects that Pandora had never seen before (and was not exactly glad to see now) lived everywhere. And what a horrible stench...!

...the host of which she saw wrapped in the clinging vines of a possessed tree...

The troll howled and struggled, but could not free itself from the vines. Pandora and Twin watched a good distance away, not wanting to further arouse its anger. "I think we should go this way..." Pandora suggested nervously, heading towards the path farthest from the creature.

"And leave the poor creature there?" Twin said, holding his ground.

"Poor creature?! That's a troll!"

"Yes. And I'm a Card and you're a Cardcaptor. Now that we've got that straight, shouldn't we help him?"

Pandora wanted to protest, but could tell by Twin's determined stare that he would not let her continue on her quest without helping the troll. "I suppose I could try to confuse the branches by using the Fly Card, and that would also help us with a quick escape from the troll.... Fly Card!" she called, "Your Master calls! Release!"

Her staff appeared beneath her, two long black wings coming out of the sides. She flew to the tree, and touched the vines which immediately followed her. She flew so quickly it began to make her dizzy, but it didn't take long for the vines to lose interest in the troll and free him. She flew out of their reach, but was so dizzy she fell off of her staff onto the damp grass.

She looked up at the spinning world, and saw the troll (or what looked like three) coming towards her. She stood up to run, but fell again. "Twin, help me!"

But he was too far away, now that the troll was only feet from her. She curled up and held her hands over her head as one would do with a bear. The troll stopped in front of her, gently prodding her with his club and grumbling under his breath. Pandora looked timidly up at him, a dull and completely harmless expression on his face. She almost wasn't afraid of him, until he moved again, but this time he went past her. She tried to get to her feet, but he came back before she could have much success. His giant hand came towards her, and she thought he was about to pick her up and eat her. But instead, in his hand was a beautiful flower colored purple, blue and yellow, which he laid on her lap. "Bludo give flower say thank you," he said in his deep voice.

Pandora blinked at the troll in surprise. "You... you talk? Your name is Bludo?" The troll nodded and smiled (or Pandora took whatever he did with his face to be a smile). "Uh... well then! My name is Pandora!"

"Pandora..." the troll repeated, then picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down! TWIN!!!"

Twin hopped onto the other shoulder and said with a smile, "Tell him that you need to reach the centre of the Labyrinth! He's not a servant of Jareth, and seems quite grateful to you... Perhaps he will help!"

"Bludo..." she whispered, her voice trembling, "I need to get to the centre of the Labyrinth to save my brother, but I'll never get there in time on my own. Can you please help me?"

"Bludo know centre!" he said, jumping up and down happily, not realizing that he was plunging Pandora's head into a tree with very thick branches. Finally he threw her down (he obviously didn't realize that throwing her around was painful) and continued.

She thought the twists and turns would never end. It had to at least have been one day since she had entered, and probably more. A few times she had wanted to give up, feeling like they were passing the same things over and over again, but Twin told her that they were not, and she felt that she could trust him. She wished so much that Rangi could be here....

Finally, they reached a tall, black castle in the centre of the Labyrinth. Twin stood next to her and Bludo behind her. "Jareth probably has them somewhere in there," Twin said. "Shall we go?"

"No," Pandora said, determined but anxious. "I... I'll go alone. If I cannot save them then you will not be able to either, right?"

"True enough, except that you will be able to seal my brother and I if we are both there."

"I suppose you're right," Pandora said with a sigh. "Then let's go."

"Pandora...?" Bludo whimpered as she took a few steps towards the castle.

"No, Bludo, you have to stay here..." she said with a smile. "You watch out for yourself, and if I get into any real trouble, I'll give you a yell, okay?"

Bludo nodded reluctantly and watched her and Twin go.

Pandora was surprised to see that there were no guards outside of the castle, and even more surprised to find that the door wasn't even locked. But as she entered and the door closed behind her, she could see why. Now that she was inside, she had more of a maze to solve than before. Not only were there passages in front of, behind, and to the sides of her, but they also ran sideways and upside-down! She didn't think she would ever be able to find a way...

"You have ten minutes left," an eerie voice said from somewhere above her head.

She looked up to see a man dressed all in black with pointed ears and long spiky hair. "You must be Jareth..." she whispered. "Please... give me my brother back... and return the others... Why do you want them?"

"I care nothing for them, I am only following orders," he said, a strange blank stare in his eyes, as if he were under a spell.

"Are you being controlled by someone? I am the Cardcaptor, you should obey me!"

"Pandora!"

She knew that voice. "Draco! Keep talking! Just talk, count, something! I'll find you!" She called on the Fly Card and flew after the sound of Draco's voice with Twin hanging on for dear life, while Jareth watched them, his arms crossed.

With only two minutes to spare, she found Draco and the other twins of the castle. "Twin Card! Come back to the Centre, your Master awaits! Return!" And the yellow-backed Twin Card appeared before her, while the twins stared on in astonishment.

"And now for you, Labyrinth Card!" she shouted turning to where Jareth now stood not very far away. "I have solved the puzzle, and now you will free all of us from your curse! Labyrinth Card! Come back to the Centre, your Master awaits! Return!"

Jareth stared at her, a small smirk playing on his lips as he slowly began to transfigure back to his Card form. "Perhaps you have solved it, and perhaps you can seal me, but you are not my master...."

Everything around them began to change, almost melt into a pool of mush at their feet, until it all seeped into the green-backed Labyrinth Card. Pandora went to pick it up, just as Draco neared her and said, "What was that all about?"

Her secret was out... What could she do now? She thought about her cards, and finally picked one. "Sleep Card... Send these people into a dreamless sleep, so that when they awaken their experience will be nothing more than a nightmare..."

With a flash of light, the Sleep Card flew from her crystal and touched each person until they all lay asleep in the forest. Pandora turned back to the Labyrinth Card and picked it up. Underneath the picture of Jareth was written a name: Persephone Avaran.

The card disappeared, leaving Pandora with nothing else but the Twin Card.

((For a pretty picture of Pandora and Rangi, go to:
http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/c/a/carolg/pandarangi.jpg.html))